When consent to an agreement is caused by coercion, fraud or misrepresentation,
the agreement is a contract voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so
caused. A party to contract, whose consent was caused by fraud or mispresentation,
may, if he thinks fit, insist that the contract shall be performed, and that he shall be
put on the position in which he would have been if the representations made had
been true.
Exception : If such consent was caused by misrepreentation or by silence, fraudulent
within the meaning of section 17, the contract, neverthless, is not voidable, if the
party whose consent was so caused had the means of discovering the truth with
ordinary diligence.
Explanation : A fraud or misrepresentation which did not cause the consent to a
contract of the party on whom such fraud was practised, or to whom such
misrepresentation was made, does not render a contract voidable.
19-A. Power to set aside contract induced by undue influence – When consent
to an agreement is caused by undue influence, the agreement is a contract voidable
at the option of the party whose consent was so caused.
Any such contract may be set aside either absolutely or, if the party who was entitled
to avoid it has received any benefit thereunder, upon such terms and conditions as
to the Court may seem just.